Uchiha of the Leaf
by Caelleh
Summary: For some reason, Sasuke gains memories of a cruel future, one that he decides to change. Along the way, he learns that the world isn't so black and white after all. Now featuring Uzumaki Naruto! Gen, no yaoi. Chapters edited now, making for a better read.
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto._**

* * *

_"__My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone…__"_

_The loud and annoying blond one was staring at him in surprise, along with the pink haired one._

_The grey haired one was unsurprised._

* * *

Sasuke looked blankly up at the sterile white ceiling tiles. The room he found himself in was cold and dark. He was tired, far more tired than anyone his age had a right to be. It had been the longest twenty-four hours of his life.

First his parents dead, their bodies bleeding and broken, right before his very eyes…

Then his brother, his precious _aniki_, taking on the blame, revealing his betrayal, his insanity…

And now these _frickin' _dreams plagued him, destroying whatever hope for rest he could have had.

They were so realistic, so real, almost as if he was living them. Each time he felt as if he knew what they were, they vanished, and he snapped to consciousness, lying in the dark until sleep claimed him again, along with yet another vision, another lie.

They were probably a genjutsu by Itachi, a memento to keep the pain fresh.

After all, Sasuke didn't think he could ever become such a hollow shell, living his whole life just to end another, without any personality, any real purpose…

"_How would I know? My body just moved on its own…"_

Well, maybe not completely hollow. Apparently he hadn't been hopeless. He'd made friends after all, friends he had considered worth saving. Even if it was an illusion made to torture him, it hadn't been so bad.

Maybe Itachi wasn't as good with genjutsu as he thought.

With that amusing thought, Sasuke yawned, and decided to get some rest. After all, two in the morning was sleeping time. No eight-year-old should have to wake up that early (or was it late) because of nightmares.

He closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

* * *

_It was the blond one again, in that annoying orange jumpsuit. He was saying something, but over the sounds of the roaring waterfall, it was hard to hear._

"_Do you… no longer consider me as your friend…!_

_The whisper became a furious shout, and Dream-Sasuke closed his eyes as the boy continued his tirade. "Everything we did together as Team Seven, WAS IT ALL JUST MEANINGLESS TO YOU?"_

_Dream-Sasuke apparently came to a decision, as he opened his mouth to reply. "…No. It wasn't all for nothing," he said, quietly and slowly. "To me…you have become…"_

_Dream-Sasuke opened his eyes, blood red eyes that locked onto the blond's blue eyes, eyes that stared up at him, expecting an answer. _

"_My closest friend."_

With that, Sasuke sat up with a snap, sweating in the morning light that streamed into his room, horrified at what he had seen.

He didn't understand what Dream-Sasuke's motivations were, why he did the things he did, or anything really. All he saw were flashes of the most realistic illusion he'd ever witnessed in his short life, not thoughts.

However, Sasuke knew that he _never_ attempt to murder a friend with a fist full of lightning.

He knew then and there that he would never become like Dream-Sasuke, and that Itachi would pay for making him see such horrifying things.

"Best friend…" he told himself. Why was that important to Dream-Sasuke again?

Sasuke then remembered: "The shrine!"

* * *

He raced out of the hospital, ignoring the nurses and doctors calling him.

He ran through the streets, paying no heed to the random people that called after him in worry.

He ran through the yellow police tape at the entrance of the Uchiha complex.

He ran, ignoring the ghosts of his relatives tugging at his mind, ignoring the pouring rain, the mud on his bare feet.

He reached the shrine, ripped out the seventh tatami mat on the far side of the shrine, and found the secret stairs, leading into darkness.

Sasuke slowly stepped down the stairs, steadying himself against the wall as he almost slipped due to his muddy feet. It was a short walk down a dark tunnel, and he quickly reached a shadowed room.

He looked around, and lit a lamp he found near the stairs without thought, using a spark of chakra as he'd done countless times before (not noticing he'd never done such a thing before), and continued in, staring at the ornate tunnel walls, decorated with posters of famous Uchiha warriors and depictions of magatama and swords and swirling black on red designs.

He reached his destination, a little meeting room with bare floors and more posters. On the far wall, directly in front of him, he saw a slab of stone, flanked with frescoes of uchiwa fans and unlit lamps.

A few lit lamps later, and he saw what Itachi wanted him to see, cut into the stone and unmistakable.

"Kill…your closest friend…"

Sasuke didn't know what to feel when he read that. His mind was swimming with contradictions, and in the end, he concentrated on what he could understand.

Rage.

He threw the lamp, and stormed out into the rain.

* * *

It took a few days before he felt ready to step outside of his home, days in which he saw Dream-Sasuke fall further into the darkness, days in which his only activities were to sleep, drink, and eat whatever food was left in the fridge.

After taking a bath and changing into his customary clothes, he walked out of the complex, no destination set in his mind. He had always felt relaxed while going for a walk, and one was long overdue.

As he walked, nodding politely to greeters, he tried to reflect on what had happened.

_"I spared your life on a whim, nothing more. But this time, my whim is telling me, to finish what I started..."_

_"Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it? It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it? Huh? I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on earth could you possibly understand, what it feels like to lose all that?"_

That was one of both the best and worst moments. It was great because after what seemed like years of training and experiments and killing, he saw the blond guy again, older, wiser, more determined, and most importantly _alive, _and thus he knew Dream-Sasuke had potential to be a good guy.

And then Dream-Sasuke opened his mouth and showed what an ass he was.

Things moved faster after that. Dream-Sasuke began to really get into action, killing the androgynous bomber and the strange snake-man, until finally…

"_You see me dead?" Itachi closed his eyes, before vanishing out of sight._

"_Let's see how good your eyes are," a voice from Sasuke's back said._

That had been one of the most intense of all the visions he had had. Dream-Sasuke had been skilled, extremely skilled (_Vanish with the roaring thunder _came to his mind). And the things they said…

"_One's reality might be another's illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies. Thinking Madara is dead is merely an arbitrary assumption that you made. In exactly the same way you once assumed that I was your gentle older brother." Itachi stated, elegant and cold even with a sword through his gut._

_Sasuke frowned. "I was so young…" he said, "My only explanation was that it was all a horrible nightmare. I wanted to believe it wasn't real, that I was just trapped into someone's cruel genjutsu._

"_But it did happen! I WAS TRAPPED IN REALITY!"_

_A flash of lightning, and suddenly Dream-Sasuke was looking at the real Itachi, who sat calmly on his throne, even as the deadly bolt crackled inches from his face._

"_My eyes can see through your illusion!" Sasuke continued, glaring._

"_Strong words," Itachi replied, standing. "But I've noticed you still don't have the same eyes as me."_

_Sasuke stood as well. "Use your eyes all you want. I will use my hatred to turn illusion into reality. And your reality is death."_

Sasuke had already begun to accept the massacre as his brother's twisted idea of a joke, when the dreams threw an unbelievable twist in the form of a masked man who tore apart every idea he had clung to.

"_We will destroy Konoha," Sasuke said to his followers, the tears on his face dried, his eyes cold._

After that, everything was a blur, from attacking that foolish rapper Cloud-nin, to holding his own against the five strongest ninja in the world, and murdering the future Hokage Danzo…

To killing his new teammates, abandoning two to their fates and murdering the third…

To yet another confrontation with the blond boy, Naruto.

"_I'm taking you back to Konoha," Naruto announced, fist outstretched._

_Dream-Sasuke became furious. "What the hell do you want from me? Why are you so fixated on me?"_

_Naruto just smiled. "Because I'm your friend."_

Then he took Itachi's eyes, and met with Zombie-Itachi.

_"The more I'm able to hate Konoha for the suffering they put you through. In fact, it's becoming even stronger than before. I do understand what you want me to do. It's probably because you're my older brother that you feel the need to put me on the right path. But it's probably because I'm your younger brother that I'll never stop, no matter what you say. As you'll always exist to protect the village… so will I to destroy it. Goodbye."_

After that, the visions were unrecognizable. Just flashes came to his mind, melting into each other each second until it was all over, and he awoke.

Sasuke's stomach grumbled and he finally looked up, ending his introspection. He felt his pocket, and knew he had enough money for something cheap. Like…

* * *

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen," said the smiling man with a weathered face. "What would you like?"

Sasuke thought for a second. "A tomato ramen, please." He decided to treat himself to something tasty, and tomatoes were his favorite.

"Coming right up, Uchiha-san." said the smiling man, turning away.

As Sasuke sat down, he noticed the other customer. A blond boy with a sleeveless hooded orange jacket and orange shorts, with blue eyes and strange whisker-like marks, who was slurping down the noodles as if it was his last meal.

"Hello, Uzumaki-san," he said, years of being taught manners kicking in.

"Hey," the boy said between bowls, not looking up.

With that, Sasuke sat calmly, waiting for his meal, cataloguing his feelings and thoughts slowly, until…

"Hey, you're that Sasuke kid!"

Sasuke's eye twitched, as he turned in his seat to face the accusing finger of the other customer. "And you're that stupid blond kid that's being rude."

Uzumaki seemed to ignore that comment in favor of asking, "Why the hell haven't you been at the Academy?"

"My entire clan was brutally murdered by my older brother earlier this week," he said dryly, breaking his chopsticks.

With that, the rest of his meal went on in silence.

* * *

Later that day, as Sasuke walked through the complex, he tried to understand himself, tried to understand his other slef, and what he would do, and why he would do it.

For starters, he didn't really understand his little outburst at lunch. Maybe Dream-Sasuke was rubbing off on him. After all, he'd seemed like the type of bastard that would throw things like that in other people's faces.

Not only that, he was feeling…different. The massacre…he no longer felt so numb about it. After crying his heart out the first day, he hadn't given it much thought. It seemed distant to him, as if it happened long ago.

Then again, in his mind, it had.

And what would he do about…everything? Should he take the visions on faith? Should he treat them as an Itachi induced lie?

Sasuke decided…to learn from them. To take his time. To think things through. If he took them on faith, and killed Kabuto, and Danzo, and Orochimaru, and Gaara before they became threats, there was no guarantee he'd succeed. In fact, if he started acting up, odds were that someone would assassinate him.

No, it was better to train, to take his time, and once he was ready…

Itachi would tell him everything, whether he liked it or not.

And then he would see to the rest.

* * *

One of the great things about the visions, Sasuke decided, was the realism.

It was also one of the worst things. After all, Dream-Sasuke had done horrible things, and he could feel everything he did.

Sasuke could still feel the slick warmth and tingling sensations of punching through Naruto's lung.

Morbid thoughts aside, he could feel everything. And that meant he could recall those feelings and try to emulate them.

"Raiton!" Sasuke said forcefully, shaping his chakra into crackling lightning that lasted for a few seconds before fading away, faint tingles remaining.

It was slow going, but he was making progress. His chakra was slowly developing a lightning affinity, and his fireball had never burned brighter. Not only that, but he had done extremely well in the taijutsu forms he had moved through.

He'd also activated the Sharingan, but didn't use it all that much. He didn't have enough chakra to do use it for extended periods of time or really intense ninjutsu training, beyond chakra control, so he concentrated on other things.

Such as archery.

He hadn't done any archery training since going on the mission with Itachi to take down the wild boar a month ago, and he'd seen the bow lying around when he'd been going through his family's old weapons, looking for a chokuto. Since he'd been doing so well with everything else, he decided to give it a try.

It was a disaster, and since then, he'd been practicing archery in between chakra exercises.

He was about to snipe down an approaching bird when he realized it was a messenger. It perched itself on a training post and held the note it carried out to him.

Sasuke frowned as he took the note. "Why would the Hokage send me a note?" he asked quietly, as he knew only ninja used birds as messengers.

_Sasuke, please come to the Hokage tower. I would like to speak with you._

Sasuke vaguely noted the hawk leave, as he wondered why the note sounded…foreboding.

With a shrug, he left, strapping the bow to his back, along with the quiver. He wanted to get accustomed to wearing them together.

* * *

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke asked, as he was ushered into the office.

"Ah, yes," the venerable old leader said, sounding weary, "I did. Please, have a seat, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke did as he was asked, looking around the office nervously. It was cluttered with books and scrolls, as well as paperwork, and rather down to earth. A crystal ball lied near one of Sarutobi's elbows, and the sun streamed in through the windows behind him, leaving the God of Shinobi in silhouette.

"I wanted to talk to you about funerary arrangements, Sasuke-kun," the Hokage said, lighting his pipe slowly and methodically. "If you want, I can take care of everything, on behalf of the village."

Here, Sasuke realized that he could do something important. "I want every Uchiha's body and eyes accounted for, Hokage-sama, every single one, including those buried whose corpses may still be fresh enough to harvest from. Then, I want them all burned. The Sharingan is too dangerous to let anyone get their hands on, and with my clan dead, there is no one to protect it."

The Hokage was silent for a second, and he nodded, blowing smoke through his nose. "I will see to it personally."

"_Arigatou Gozaimasu_," Sasuke said, rising up to give the Hokage a formal bow.

"Think nothing of it," Sarutobi replied, nodding in response. "And please sit. I wanted to ask you about something else."

"Sure," Sasuke said, returning to his seat.

"I heard from Naruto-kun about your little encounter. I also heard that you haven't been going to the Academy. Do you have anything to say?"

Sasuke looked away. "Well, I forgot," he said, "But I promise that I will try to attend next week. But I will not apologize to Uzumaki," he finished contritely. "He was being rude."

The corner of Sarutobi's lip twitched, as if he had suppressed a smile. "Well, I'll be sure to inform him. However, he is an orphan, like you, and has had no one to teach him manners. I don't think he realized he was being rude."

Sasuke didn't know what to say to that. Dream-Sasuke had never cared about Naruto's status as an orphan. As for him, well, he was a child. He didn't understand tact, and subtlety. "Oh, well, I guess I can talk to him."

"Maybe you should," Sarutobi said, a small smile on his face. "I was also going to ask you about that bow you're carrying."

"I was practicing when the hawk arrived, Hokage-sama." Sasuke said. "I was looking through old weapons, and I found this. I remembered how poorly I did on the mission with Itachi, and I decided to give it another try."

"Ah," Sarutobi's expression became blank. "How do you feel about him? What are your plans now?"

Sasuke hesitated, before telling the truth. "I don't know what to feel. I don't hate him," _I don't want to hate him, I don't want to become like that, _"I hope to be strong enough to take him on, and confront him about everything."

Sarutobi considered that, taking a few more puffs. "That is well, but I advise you not to lose yourself in vengeance. Please remember that."

"I will, Hokage-sama," Sasuke said, with a determined nod.

"Very well, you may leave."

Just as Sasuke reached the door, Sarutobi called his name. "Sasuke."

"Yes?" Sasuke turned, hiding his frown.

"You were named after my father, who was a great ninja," Sarutobi said. "I know you may feel alone, but you are not. You can come to me at any time."

"Thank you, sir."

With that, Sasuke left.

**A/N**

**Something that was on my mind. I dislike canon-Sasuke. A lot. However, I really like playing as him in Ultimate Ninja Impact. He's a badass. So, I decided to make him dislike canon-Sasuke, and want to better himself.**

**Most of the quotes are from the manga. I won't be doing much more of it.**

**Edited 8/27/12.**

**Please review, and tell me what you think.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Excellent shot, Sasuke-kun."

"Thank you, Senpai."

Sasuke was rather content with life. The years had passed quickly, a blur of training, studying, going to the Academy, excelling at everything set before him, among other things.

He rarely thought about the visions, besides applying them to his training. After all, if it was a tricky genjutsu cast on him by Itachi, he would not let it consume his life. He would not let Itachi's shadow hold him forever, unlike the other Sasuke, who was a damned fool in his opinion.

If it was some delusion, or some random dream, then it was a useful one. He used it to mark how far he'd come, and how much he needed to do.

If it was a memory from the future (the least likely option, he thought), then he'd deal with things as they came. If Zabuza attacked, he'd fight. If Haku attacked, he'd fight. If Gaara attacked, he'd fight. If Orochimaru attacked, or Itachi, or anyone of hundreds of people that could kill him attacked him, well, he'd do his best to get them to let him live.

He tried to be as realistic as possible however, and knew that if these people actually existed, and actually tried to kill him, he'd probably be dead.

So he trained his ass off and went to the Academy to learn to be the best ninja he could be.

However, he also tried his best to not burn himself out. So he went on long walks to relax, and practiced archery as both a hobby, and as an extension of his training. After all, if he became skilled at it, it would be an effective part of his arsenal, filling in the weakness he had in fights against long-range opponents. Not only that, if he succeeded in adding chakra and seals into his arrows, they would be devastating, as well as good for traps.

After all, why should he let the blond guy come up with all the traps? One guy shouldn't have a monopoly on unpredictable strategies.

Sasuke drew back another arrow and let it fly through the air without properly aiming, only glancing to see if it hit its target (it did) before reaching for another…

_FWAP_

Only to get his hand slapped.

"Sasuke-kun, I understand that you wish to hone this skill for another purpose," one of the older students said, withholding the arrow, "But as long as you are in our club, you will follow the rules."

Sasuke sighed internally. "Yes, Senpai," he replied, bowing slightly. "I apologize, and will strive to keep the club rules in mind."

The civilian nodded. "See that you do," he said, before walking off to check on another student.

Sasuke gave an audible sigh before picking up his things.

_I guess I'll have to do this at home from now on, _he mused. Konoha didn't have many places to practice archery; the few that did were recreational centers for civilians. This place had been nice, while it lasted.

* * *

"Morning, Uchiha."

"Hello Sasuke-kun!"

"Sasuke! Ready to get your ass kicked?"

Sasuke replied to most of the greetings as he always did. A courteous nod to the guys, and a smile to the girls.

For the last call, however, he went with a different tact. "Shut up, Uzumaki. Shouldn't you be studying?"

Naruto's face reddened and he pointed his finger dramatically at Sasuke in response. "Shut up, bastard! I'll show you."

Sasuke dismissed the angry blond with a wave of his hand, and a light, "Whatever you say, Uzumaki."

The rest of the day went as it normally would for Sasuke. He answered every question on the paper given to him in record time. He gave a small demonstration of his fighting prowess against Aburame, who shook his hand afterwards for the good spar. He displayed his Henge, Kawarimi, and Bunshin when asked.

Then he received his forehead protector from a beaming Iruka.

"Congratulations, Sasuke-kun. You're now a Shinobi of Konohagakure."

* * *

"Well, of course Sasuke-kun made it," he overheard Yamanaka tell Haruno, as he sat back down.

"Any doubt he wouldn't?" Haruno shot back. "He's a genius, and so hot..."

As their little conversation turned into disturbing territory, he blocked them out and instead watched curiously as Naruto walked out of the back room, his shoulders drooping, his faced full of sorrow, without proof of his having passed.

_What the hell happened, Uzumaki? _Sasuke thought to himself, sitting back in his seat with a sigh. _Was it something I said? Or were you not as smart as I thought you were?_

* * *

It turns out Sasuke was wrong to underestimate Uzumaki Naruto.

"Sasuke!" a voice rang out days later, catching his notice even as secluded as he was in the Uchiha training grounds.

It wasn't Uzumaki's usual bratty cry of anger, which he gave whenever Sasuke did…well, anything.

It had its own annoyance, and in his mind's eyes he saw a flash of swirling blue and… strange eyes.

Sasuke bit back a reply of "Naruto!" and smothered the urge to coat his hand in chirping lightning. Instead, he strapped his bow to his back and leaped to the source, heading back to the main area of the compound.

Naruto was waiting when he landed, standing in the street in front of his house. There was a long stone fence to their side, decorated with a line of Uchiha uchiwa crests, one of which was ominously cracked; a memento of times past.

It was midday and the sun was shining, but with the tension in the air, Sasuke felt it would have been more appropriate if it were sunset, or cloudy.

"What do you want, Uzumaki?" he asked, staring into intense blue eyes.

"Why are you dressed like that?" came the reply, as Naruto's brow creased into a confused frown.

Sasuke wondered what class clown was referring to. He wore a short-sleeved Uchiha jacket and ninja-style pants tucked into long-necked sandals, with his bow and quiver strapped to his back. "I've been dressed like this for years now," Sasuke shot back, a little defensively. "Why the hell do you want to know?"

"Because you look like an ass," Naruto stated, crossing his arms. "But that's not the point. Did you see anything strange, lately?"

"Besides you not wearing your stupid jumpsuit?" Sasuke growled, annoyed, looking over the blond's tee-shirt and shorts. He looked as if he'd come straight out of bed. "No."

Naruto's eye twitched, and he visibly suppressed the urge to hurl in insult in return. "I meant like…white snakes," he clarified, "and people disappearing into crows. And people masked in orange."

"I think I know what you mean," Sasuke said, his annoyance dissipating rather quickly. "But I saw all of that when my parents were killed. Tell me, have you seen anyone with Sharingan lately?"

Naruto shook his head, killing one of Sasuke's theories. "I've been recovering since I learned I was…" at that, he became quiet, and seemed as if he was about to change the subject.

"Jinchuuriki," Sasuke finished, crossing his arms. "Before you ask, it was in the vision."

Naruto became very tense. "Sasuke, we should talk about this in private."

* * *

"So, if these are visions of the future," Sasuke said wearily, tired of having to deal with Naruto for an extended period of time, "What should we do about it?"

They were seated in Sasuke's house, empty cups of tea set on the low dining table, the low sun peeking through the windows.

"We'll save everyone, 'tebbayo!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "Haku, and Zabuza, and Gaara, and kill Orochimaru before he—"

"Stop," Sasuke said, cutting off Naruto's tirade. "Don't start shouting like an idiot. Let's think this through."

"But—"

"Naruto," Sasuke interrupted again, visibly annoyed. "Let me explain something to you: the Sharingan regularly destroys reality, so I really don't care about preserving the timeline or any nonsense like that. I don't care if you try to change things in our favor. However, I do care about surviving. Yes, we do have future knowledge, and yes, this will aid us greatly against most opponents. However, do not presume you can kill Orochimaru that easily."

Naruto's face twisted into a sort of mix between a sneer and a disapproving frown, one that looked very out of place on him. "Don't tell me you're scared, Sasuke. The Mangekyou Sharingan can take care of him really easily—"

"I don't have _that_, Naruto," Sasuke said, annoyed. "And I don't want it. And your Rasengan based techniques must not be displayed no matter what may happen: it would lead to too many questions with no good explanations, and in our world, that means trouble. _Wakarimasu ka_?"

"What can we do then?" Naruto asked, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "How are we going to defeat anyone without our strongest techniques?"

Sasuke shifted into his annoyed lecturing voice yet again. "I'm going to explain something to you, something that you better shove into that empty skull of yours if you want to survive. There are basically three types of ninja in this world, Naruto. Novices, good ones, and great ones.

"Novices are weak, Naruto, and most genin and even chuunin fall into this category. They are learning to crawl, and no matter how smart they are, a good ninja can cut them down with ease. We are novices right now," Sasuke said, gesturing between his guest and himself. "Even with all of my skill, Kabuto could kill me right now without breaking a sweat.

"Good ninja are just that. They are good. But, they specialize too much, or generalize too much. That Kurenai woman falls into this category. She can cast great illusions, but if they're broken, odds are the opponent can easily kill her in a straight fight. Iruka is another. He's a career chuunin: skilled enough to lead, but has nothing special to get him promoted. Good ninja are best used in teams, to cover each other's weaknesses, or to support a better fighter.

"Then there are great ninja. Ninja who have either specialized enough to match the best or just plain great. Maito Gai is a great ninja. Using taijutsu, he is strong enough to match anyone's skills, or so I've heard. Kakashi is another great ninja. He's copied a lot of jutsu, and can counter most attacks, as well as being very intelligent and skilled in taijutsu and tracking. However, they are sort of low tier compared to other great ninjas: S-class ninja.

"The very best of the great ninja are S-class, like Orochimaru, whose goal was to learn every jutsu in the world. Thus, he was just as skilled as Kakashi in that respect, and almost indestructible in battle. The same goes for the Sandaime, who actually did mangage to learn every technique in the village. He isn't called the God of Shinobi for his wisdom, you know."

"I get what you mean," Naruto said. "People like Madara, who was able to face down the entire Shinobi army with normal jutsu, and beat up the Five Kage with his bloodline abilities."

Sasuke blinked. "That masked asshole was that strong?"

"Not Tobi," Naruto clarified. "The actual historical Madara Uchiha was revived by Kabuto, and given a bunch of upgrades. He had the Rinnegan and some of the Shodaime's abilities."

"I'm going to go corpse burning later," Sasuke said, eye twitching. "And yeah, he was a great ninja. He mastered hand-to-hand combat as well as a wide variety of jutsu, and had the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"What about Itachi?" Naruto asked, "And the Yondaime?"

"Minato Namikaze is a mystery known for only two things: Rasengan, and Sealing," Sasuke said. "I'd rather not comment. As for Itachi, he could have easily killed me, even blind as a bat and puking out blood. Don't take any chances."

"So, in summary," Naruto said, "If we meet S-class ninja, we run?"

"Yes."

"But that's lame!"

Sasuke slapped his hand down onto the table, rattling the teacups. "Naruto, you're a one-trick pony. You rely too damn much on Kage Bunshin, overpowered Rasengan, and developing ways of hitting people with them. Here's what you need to do: Learn some damned wind jutsu so that you can gain some more subtle attacks and expand your arsenal. Train your taijutsu, because frankly, you only kept up with later enemies thanks to Sage chakra and the Kyuubi. You were a great ninja in the future only because of your ridiculous power ups!"

"What about you?" Naruto shot back, growling. "You were the same, relying on that stupid Mangekyou for everything, and the Cursed Seal! Why the hell should I listen to you!"

"Because I'm doing the same things!" Sasuke growled. "I've been learning Lightning manipulation and Fire techniques to fight better! I've been seeking out spars with higher level ninja whenever one was lounging around town! I've been studying seals and illusions! I even took up archery to expand my arsenal!"

That shut Naruto up. "You've really put thought into this?" he asked. "I thought you had thought the visions were just an illusion?"

"I did," Sasuke said, "But they were still useful. They had everything except thoughts, and were very good teachers in chakra manipulation, among other things."

"What do you mean by thoughts?" Naruto asked, frowning. "You didn't know what you were thinking?"

"Of course not," Sasuke replied. "Dream-Sasuke never gave away any motivation besides 'I must have power,' and 'I hate you all'. It was annoying every time he opened his mouth. Did you feel any thoughts from Dream-Naruto?"

"...No," Naruto said slowly, staring at his companion, "But I still understood him. How he thought, how he felt. He was pretty open."

"You never changed," Sasuke agreed, smirking.

After a few moments of silence, moments in which the sun sank below the horizon, Naruto spoke. "I guess I should let you take the lead, since you've thought this through more than I have."

"No," Sasuke said. "We'll be partners."

"Partners?" Naruto seemed surprised at the offer.

"Yeah." Sasuke looked away, out the window to the darkening sky. "You have a way of fixing things, of making things better, of saving the day. I think that as long as I lay down some ground rules before the big events, we'll do pretty well."

"Alright then." Naruto became as serious as he could. "What's the first order of business?"

"We become an official team," Sasuke replied.

* * *

"You won't pass if you don't come at me with the intent to kill," Kakashi said in his usual calm tone. "You can even use your weapons."

"But you could get hurt!" Sakura exclaimed, frowning.

"Don't worry about me," Kakashi assured her, tucking the bells away. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, Sakura," Naruto added. "I won't hurt him too much."

"This won't take long," Sasuke agreed.

"My, my," Kakashi said, "No confidence in your future sensei?"

When no one replied, he sighed. "Alright then, start."

All three vanished into the foliage… except for Naruto.

"The basics of being a ninja involve being able to hide yourself," Kakashi said, looking at Naruto pointedly.

"Screw that crap," Naruto said, charging. "I'll take those bells right now!"

Kakashi began rummaging into his pocket. "Well, I guess I can give you a lesson: Taijutsu." He pulled out a book as he said it: a small orange book with a large proclamation saying '18 and Up!'

"Forget the book, sensei," Naruto yelled, jumping up to kick Kakashi. "I'm a hands-on type of guy!"

"Well, I'm happy to oblige," Kakashi said distractedly, already lost in his novel as he ducked Naruto's kick instinctively.

A few exchanges later, Kakashi closed his book and crouched behind Naruto, who had overextended himself in one of his attacks. "A ninja shouldn't be so stupid as to display his back to his opponent!" he stated, his hands forming a seal.

"Listen to your own advice, Kakashi!"

Kakashi dodged the arrow that came flying at him and struck Naruto, who popped into smoke. _A shadow clone?_ He thought to himself, even as he turned to the speaker.

Sasuke stood in a tree, arrow nocked, with Naruto standing on the ground below. "Go," Sasuke said, firing his arrow, and Naruto charged Kakashi again.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto yelled, a score of clones forming at his back and surrounding Kakashi, who sighed as he put away his book.

"A hundred times zero is still zero, you know," Kakashi said tauntingly as he began to destroy the army.

"Zero? I'm not that bad!" Naruto shot back, creating more clones.

"Perhaps not," Kakashi conceded, even as he slammed two clones together with ease, "But your teamwork is atrocious. Sasuke is killing more clones than I am."

Suddenly, a pair of hands broke out of the ground and latched onto Kakashi's feet, almost tripping him with their speed. "Do you really think I'm that bad?" came Sasuke's voice from below.

All the arrows on the field surrounding Kakashi became even more shadow clones, grabbing onto Kakashi faster than he could attempt to throw them off.

"Got the bells!" Naruto shouted.

* * *

"So, while Naruto's clone distracted you, I gave Sakura my bow and told her to fire everything in my quiver at you. Then Naruto went in to distract you more, while I tunneled under to trap you," Sasuke finished.

"Impressive," Kakashi finally said. "Not the plan, of course. I could have easily gotten out of the way. But I do like that you worked as a team, which is what the whole exercise was all about."

"So," Sakura said slowly. "We passed?"

"Yes." Kakashi smiled. "You passed."

* * *

**A/N: I tried to make Sasuke more polite, and more mature than other people his age, though he still has a strong personality. I wanted to show him as subtly different than canon-Sasuke, in a way that shows that yes, they are similar, but my Sasuke is not a murderous bastard.**

**I brought Naruto in, and I didn't change him all that much. Why? Because he's only had the knowledge for less than a week. He's going to mature, but not as mcuh as Sasuke, who had years to change himself. Future-Naruto is very similar to young Naruto, so when he does mature, it will be rather subtle.**

**As for changing the past… Sasuke has no problems with that. However, he doesn't want Naruto to go out and start challenging Orochimaru before they are ready. So he will rein him in a bit, to keep him from doing anything foolish. And Naruto will have the chance to save who he wants to save, though this story will center more around Sasuke.**

**Sasuke, as nice as he is compared to canon, still isn't that attached to anyone. Even if he recognizes someone in real life that he knows will become important, he won't go out of his way to help them. That's Naruto's line of work. Sasuke has absorbed some of Canon-Sasuke's qualities, and is sort of selfish and used to going alone, only using allies when necessary, unlike Naruto, who drew people to him like moths to a flame and always helped everyone he could. **

**I'm not going to depict many of Naruto's actions, since it's a chore, but I will be showing the effects of his actions and how they affect Sasuke's path. **

**You may have noticed I didn't write team-selections, and just skipped to the last test, and even then, cut it up. That's because such things are a chore to write, and I'm doing this for fun. Besides, it's not like you're missing anything: anything that I skip is almost identical to canon. Sasuke is a passive listener, rarely an active participant in the conversation. **

**Anyway, please review!**

******Edited: 8/27/2012**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

"Well," Kakashi began, looking at his students with a serious expression on his face. "What do you guys think we should do?"

Sakura stayed silent, as did Sasuke. Naruto, however, was his usual vocal self.

"Let's go!" he yelled.

"And you guys?" Kakashi asked, glancing at his other students.

"Go." Sasuke spoke.

"I guess we should go," Sakura reluctantly agreed, her shoulders sagging.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan," Naruto told her, "You'll do better next time."

_Even as an immature brat, Naruto still is better with people than me._ Sasuke noted. "We're a team, Sakura-san," he added. "We'll be here to help you get stronger, if you want."

Sakura looked at her teammates with a smile. "Thank you."

"Well," Tazuna declared, clapping his hands together. "Let's go then!"

"Shut up, you drunkard," Sasuke said, surprising his teammates.

Kakashi just smiled at them.

* * *

"Everybody down!"

The giant cleaver sped over their heads, and Zabuza appeared.

"Sharingan Kakashi," he growled, looking over his shoulder at them. "The old man is mine."

Kakashi dramatically revealed his left eye. "Surround and protect the client. Don't enter our fight: this is beyond your level."

Their fight didn't interest Sasuke that much, beyond copying the few techniques he could gleam from the depths of the mist.

It was when Kakashi was caught by the Water Prison that they sprang into action.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _Naruto growled, sending his clones to fight Zabuza's water clones, while Sasuke pulled out his bow and let a few arrows fly.

Zabuza effortlessly blocked most of them with a swing of his sword, but then the next volley came.

And then the next.

And then another volley flew in.

After scattering the fifth volley, with the arrows falling into the lake around him, Zabuza began to scowl in annoyance. "Don't you stupid kids realize how pointless this is?" he asked, pointing his sword at them. "Stop playing around and die."

Sasuke smirked, looking at a grinning Naruto. "Sometimes," Sasuke replied, "The most stupid of plans are more than you'd think."

At that, the lake exploded with orange clones, freeing Kakashi from the water prison as Zabuza jumped away.

* * *

"You know," Sasuke told Naruto casually as they sat around Tazuna's house. "I'd forgotten how strong the Sharingan is."

Naruto gave him a look that implied very unpleasant things. "Are you serious? Don't tell me you forgot about Kamui, your stupid black flames, your stupid summoning, or even your stupid torture illusion."

Sasuke waved his hand. "The Mangekyou is a huge weakness," he told Naruto. "I think that just getting it makes people stupid and over-reliant on it, which is why I haven't bothered to activate it. No, I mean how utterly overpowering the normal state is."

"You mean copying techniques?" Naruto made a strangled sound of annoyance. "That's cheating."

"We're ninja, or have you forgotten that, you fool?" Sasuke shot back. "No, I meant the hypnosis _in the middle of a fight _that Kakashi was able to pull. I also remember during our fight at the waterfall place, that halfway through you pummeling me my eyesight became sharp enough to read your movements in your one-tailed bijuu cloak. The Sharingan is a serious weapon, even when it isn't fully upgraded, you know?"

"Itachi told me about your cousin's eye," Naruto thought out loud, "and how it could force someone to completely change their personality."

Sasuke pondered upon that, before making a decision. "I'm going to work on my basic Sharingan more, concentrating especially on illusions, Naruto," he said. "It's an underrated branch of the ninja lifestyle, and having even a bit of Kakashi's skill with my eyes would be a godsend against some of our enemies."

_And the second I see Danzo, _he thought to himself, _I will rip out his arms, and take Shisui's eye back. That thing is too powerful to leave in the hands of that crazy old man._

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun," Sakura spoke, walking into the dining room where they were lounging, "Kakashi-sensei's awake!"

* * *

"C'mon, Sasuke! This is easy! Why can't we just spar or something?" Naruto whined, pouting from his precarious position at the top of a tree.

"I noticed that you've become rather confident," Sasuke replied, walking up the tree at a measured pace. "It's a good thing, because it means that you're less likely to freeze up, but then again…"

After a few moments of silence, Naruto impatiently asked: "What?"

"You're too damn confident!" Sasuke snapped, glaring at a surprised Naruto. "What happens if you start throwing around Rasengan and walking on water, or using Sage Mode, or that blasted golden chakra, and Kakashi notices?"

"I'm not going to—"

"Face it, Naruto," Sasuke growled. "You've been coasting along on these memories. You have the skills but none of the experience. You're still too damned immature! Tell me, what will you do when you meet that masked ninja with Zabuza?"

"I'll save Haku, of course," Naruto declared, annoyed.

"You can't save everyone," Sasuke shot back. "Haku is a ninja. If Zabuza demands it, he will KILL us, without hesitation, and you know that. If Zabuza dies, he would never forgive us."

Naruto seemed to falter at that. "But, he's a nice guy…"

"Itachi was a nice guy," Sasuke shot back. "But he still killed EVERYONE, and TORTURED me more than once. You can't forget that!"

"But…" Naruto seemed defeated. "What am I supposed to do?"

Sasuke didn't really know what to tell him. "What did dream-Naruto do before?"

Naruto paused at that, staring at Sasuke with a strange expression. But then he closed his eyes, and thought about it for a second. "I... he took it as a lesson. To live a life without regrets and to follow his own path."

Sasuke watched as Naruto's posture seemed to change, watched as a load left his shoulders. "What are you going to do?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know if I can save him," Naruto said just as softly. "But I'm going to try."

"Fair enough. As long as you don't do something stupid, or get too confident, I'm fine with that." Sasuke then noticed his position on the side of the tree, and jumped to a branch. "Now go train. Don't you have something you can do right now?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess I can practice Wind Manipulation, or meditate."

"Every little bit counts," Sasuke replied. "I'm going to do some exercises then."

* * *

The fight against Haku was hard. As hard as the battle was the first time.

Haku was fast, and although he wasn't a powerhouse, he was skilled.

He was a good ninja, one that with more experience and training could be a great one.

Sasuke had been trying to mold himself into a great ninja, of course. He did chakra exercises as often as possible, making his control and capacity much better than Dream Sasuke's had been at the same age. He practiced the other Sasuke's known techniques as often as possible, so as to not rely on just memory in the middle of a battle. He studied as much as he could from everything he'd inherited from the clan, because just knowing ninja arts was not the same as understanding them, as knowing why this did that, rather than just casting something based on someone else's experience.

Even so, he was at best at a Chuunin's level, the same level as Haku. Haku, who had the benefit of years of being on the run, and training under an A-rank killer from the harshest of all of the ninja villages.

One who had a distinct advantage with those goddamned unbreakable mirrors. Nothing Sasuke had could pierce the blasted things, much less catch the boy while he sped between them.

At least Naruto was here to help now. "Why did you take so long getting here anyway?" Sasuke whispered, readying his kunai.

"I stopped Gato's men from killing Tsunami and Inari, and rallied the troops," Naruto replied, staring at Haku's reflection.

Tsunami…and Inari?

Oh Kami, he was such an ass sometimes. Forgetting the names of people who fed him and housed him…

"Have you made your final decision?" Sasuke asked, activating his Sharingan, shoving away the useless thoughts.

"Don't kill him," Naruto said. "I want to talk to him."

"Then talk."

"I don't wish to kill you," Haku spoke, cutting into their conversation, "But I can't allow you to oppose Zabuza. For him, I will harden my heart and kill you."

"Why?" Naruto asked, "Why would you do that? What makes him so special?"

"Because he helped me when I…"

Sasuke tuned them out, glancing at Zabuza and Kakashi, who were indistinct flares of chakra in the mist. Then he looked out at Sakura, who bravely tried to defend Tazuna, even as she shook in terror, looking out at them.

Their eyes met, and he gave her a comforting smile.

"Enough."

Haku's voice cut through the mist, full of emotion, and Sasuke knew what would happen next.

"Plan B!" he shouted, and he charged in front of Naruto, blocking the ice needles with his knife.

"I'm sorry, Haku," Naruto said, before an orange aura shot out of him and enveloped him.

* * *

"Why did you let me do it?" Naruto asked the next day, when just he and Sasuke stood before the missing-nin's graves. "You knew what would happen, didn't you? You told me, after all."

Sasuke looked away. "I think you needed it," he said. "After all, didn't you know what would happen, too?"

"I did," Naruto replied. "I just…didn't want to believe it. Didn't want it to happen."

"What do you think now?" Sasuke continued, looking back at the blond. "What'll you do?"

"I'm…not ever going to give up," Naruto said, looking right back at Sasuke. "I'm going to live my own path, without regrets. I'm going to save Gaara in the Chuunin exams, no matter what."

Save that psychopath? Had he done that before? If so, that meant Naruto had been the reason for his rise to the level as Kazekage.

Not that surprising when he thought of it.

"I'll be there every step of the way," Sasuke promised, grasping Zabuza's sword and yanking out of the ground, before sealing it away.

Naruto's eyes flashed in irritation, before giving way to morbid amusement. "Only you would say something like that while robbing a grave," he told him with a resigned air.

"Whatever," Sasuke flippantly said back. "Dream-Sasuke did the same thing. I'm only getting a head start. Besides, there's a lot of things you can do with a big frickin' sword like this."

* * *

A few weeks later, they were back in Konoha, training under the evening sun after yet another day of boring D-ranks.

The life of a ninja was unchanging: fierce battles and high emotions mixed with idle days and peaceful times.

It made Sasuke and Naruto tense, waiting for the next hammer to fall, waiting for the next enemy to spring out of the trees and attack.

Naruto brought up a topic Sasuke had scarcely considered in all their time training and planning.

"Are we ever going to try to improve Sakura?" Naruto asked in concern, throwing away another sliced leaf. "I feel like she'd be an awesome teammate if we gave her a chance. In fact, I know it."

Sasuke grunted from his position on the stream, practicing his archery on distant targets he'd painted on trees. "We don't really need her, you know," Sasuke replied. "She might be nice support, but she's always been rather useless."

That brought out Naruto's ire. "Have you hung out with her at all?" he asked with a growl. "She's gotten a lot better, you know, and she's willing to get stronger with us. Not everyone starts out like us, after all. Hell, what if, for some reason, the same thing happens to her, and suddenly we have an angry future-Sakura who's pissed off because we've been ignoring her. She killed Sasori, after all."

"Then train the damn girl," Sasuke shot back, wondering who the hell Sasori was as he continued firing his shots, with more force than necessary. "Meanwhile, I will be doing things that are actually productive."

"Like what?" Naruto asked with faked innocence. "Like sitting around doing nothing while I take care of the fights?"

The string on Sasuke's bow snapped under the pressure. "Listen, you stupid little brat," Sasuke began thundering, before Naruto interrupted him.

"What the hell have you done?" Naruto asked. "You haven't taken care of any of the villains, and any time I want to try something new, you tell me about how I'm going to fail, and get myself killed!"

"That's because you frickin' will, you idiot!" Sasuke shouted. "Just because you have the memories of a ninja with more strength and experience doesn't mean you can fight like one!"

Naruto stood up, and shook his head at Sasuke's angry expression. "I'm going to go ask Sakura if she wants to train. See you later, Sasuke."

For once, the lack of honorifics annoyed Sasuke. But not as much as the fact that Naruto was right.

"But what the hell can I do?" Sasuke asked aloud, watching Naruto's retreating back. _Danzo would have me killed right now, Orochimaru would be content with leaving me brain dead, Itachi would never hold back on me, Tobi is ridiculously hard to kill. Hell, I'd have problems with even Kabuto!_

_You can't afford to do anything rash just because you're feeling a bit useless, _he reminded himself. _All you can do is train, and train, and train, so when the time comes, you'll be ready._

_All you can do is…_

* * *

It was a few weeks later when he finally saw Naruto alone again: as they met outside for the Chuunin exams.

Well, Sakura was there, looking at him with a mixture of determination and nervousness, but she didn't count.

"Naruto-dobe." _I'm here, you punk. Let's go kick some ass,_ growled Sasuke's expression.

"Sasuke-teme." _Take care of yourself, alright? _Naruto's face pleaded.

But for once, neither one could understand the other. And it was a startling thought.

"C'mon guys," Sakura spoke, drawing their attention. "Let's go inside. I don't want to be late."

The boys exchanged another unreadable exchange, before they followed Sakura in.

* * *

Of course, it was at the Forest of Death when everything went to hell.

Orochimaru was every bit as devastating as Sasuke remembered.

Naruto was blown away by a _gust _that the Serpent had thrown at them, and then, when the man came up to him and Sakura as a grass-nin…

The sheer amount of malice in his gaze, in his body, in his soul…even if it was just an illusion, it was one that was effective enough to paralyze him yet again. It took everything he had to break through and take Sakura to cover.

"Sasuke," she began, trembling next to him. "What was—"

He put his hand over her mouth, muffling her, wondering what course of action he should take, when suddenly Sakura slapped his hand away. "SNAKE!"

Sasuke jumped away from the venomous summon, whose reptilian maw seemed to smirk at him. The snake suddenly shot forward, slithering up the tree at unnatural speed to catch him, its jaws opening to reveal glistening fangs.

Sasuke realized that if he didn't stop the summoned beast, the Serpent would let him die out of spite. Orochimaru hated weakness, and hated wasting his time on failures. So, with all the skill he'd accumulated over the years, he pulled out his bow, nocked a particularly thick arrow, pulled it back, and fired with the span of a second, nailing the snake right between its yellow eyes.

It collapsed on a thick branch; its eyes clouded over in death, letting Sasuke catch his breath, if only for a second.

His actions probably earned him Orochimaru's interest, and thus, mercy, as the Serpent ripped his way out of the snake's side, rising to his feet with his tongue licking his lips in anticipation. "You shouldn't relax for even a moment," he taunted with a crazy glint in his eyes. "The prey should always be ready to run in the presence of a predator."

He twisted his way up the tree just as his dead summon did, when suddenly a series of kunai shot out and almost impaled him.

"Never fear," a familiar voice cried out, "Uzumaki Naruto is here!"

_That idiot is going to get killed, _Sasuke thought to himself, watching as the blond charged in without a care in the world. "Don't be an idiot, Naruto!" he shouted out. "This guy is way beyond us!"

The Serpent merely watched them in amusement, wrapped around a branch, his head resting on his hand. "So, you've come too, Naruto-kun?"

"Don't underestimate me!" Naruto shouted, sparing Sasuke only a quick glance before coming closer to the fray.

"Stop it now!" Sasuke tried to command, grinding his teeth in irritation. "He'll kill us if you piss him off! Let's just run!"

"That's true," Orochimaru said, smiling at them, as a master to his hounds. "You'd be better off if you ran away. You might even survive."

"Not gonna happen!" Naruto roared, charging in.

"Then again," Orochimaru continued, unwinding himself to stand once again. "I'd rather just kill you."

The serpent bit his thumb, and swiped a tattoo on his forearm. "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_

* * *

Of course, it only took a few seconds for Naruto to get taken out.

Orochimaru pulled his fingers away from Naruto's stomach and tossed the boy away without a thought, instead staring down at Sasuke.

The entire fight between the Sannin member and the Genin had lasted about thirty seconds, as Naruto valiantly tried to smash Orochimaru's face in, even resorting to attempting the Rasengan at one point, to no avail. The Serpent's summon had thrown the boy about, and when Naruto began to tap into the Kyuubi's chakra for support, Orochimaru had picked him up with his prehensile tongue, and thrown up a seal that completely shut Naruto down for the moment.

_At least he's not dead, _Sasuke thought, staring back at that cold gaze. _I don't know if I'll be able to say the same in a few minutes. _

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out. "Don't let him get you too!"

Sasuke smirked in spite of himself, his Sharingan blooming under the overwhelming pressure. "I'm not going down that easily," he spoke, readying his bow.

Orochimaru merely smiled in condescension, and sped forward.

With the Sharingan, Orochimaru was merely a blur, rather than a flash. Sasuke quickly fired as many arrows as he could, scattering them around the Serpent, who easily stepped past the projectiles. "Your brother's eyes seem sharper than yours, Sasuke-kun," the Serpent taunted. "He never misses, after all."

"Who said I missed?" Sasuke shot back, before throwing his head back and inhaling deeply. _"Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"_

A massive fireball sprouted from his lips, one that didn't seem to faze his opponent at all. Orochimaru jumped over it, only to face another arrow coming at his face. "Did you honestly think that would work?" Orochimaru asked, plucking the arrow out of midair, crushing it in his right hand.

Sasuke didn't bother with a reply. He whipped his hand, sending a wave of crackling energy at the scattered arrows. "Activate!"

The arrows glowed for a half second, before sending out their own bolts of lightning that carved into the bark. The sparking energy suddenly seemed to come to life, and they all began flying at the Serpent. Orochimaru noticed their trajectory and attempted to throw the broken arrow away, to no avail. It seemed to stick to his hand, and in a flash the right side of his body was consumed by the combined blasts.

The arrows burnt to ashes very quickly under the stress of the energy they channeled, forcing the lightning to subside, revealing a very badly burned Orochimaru. He grinned maniacally under the warped skin he wore, staring at Sasuke with a disturbing hunger.

"A very nice trap for someone to think of so quickly," the Serpent hissed slowly. "Though it could use some work, you showed intelligence and skill far beyond what I could have imagined."

High praise indeed from the Summoner. Especially for a plan made up on the spot, using up his very special arrows, which he'd laced with seals he'd discovered in his studies of the Uchiha archives. They were very hard to make, and he'd used up all ten in that gambit. _Better to lose some supplies than get my neck snapped trying to take him on hand to hand, _Sasuke mused, warily glaring at the missing-nin.

"I enjoyed testing you, Sasuke-kun," the Serpent continued in his smooth and low voice, a patch of skin falling away to reveal his serpentine eyes. "You may indeed surpass Itachi; I look forward to seeing you again."

"We never want to see you again!" Sakura interjected from her hidden perch.

"I'm afraid that isn't an option," Orochimaru replied, forming a hand seal.

Before Sasuke could do anything, the Serpent's neck shot out, and he was bitten, the familiar burn of the Cursed Seal forming on his neck.

"My name is Orochimaru," he whispered in his ear, "Come seek me out for more power, if you wish."

The man vanished into the tree like a wraith, leaving Sasuke to collapse, unconscious.

* * *

When he finally awoke, it was to Sakura's scream. The Cursed Seal burned in his neck, channeling the muted Sage Chakra into his skin, warped by Orochimaru's experiments. It was nothing too dangerous, now that the Serpent had been exorcised from within it.

He got to his feet slowly, savoring the power flowing through the young body; it was much stronger than he remembered it being. An unfamiliar yet intimate weight hung on his back (_the bow and its quiver, _he reminded himself), and his clothes…he didn't understand why he would voluntarily chose to wear this at such a young age, but it was what he was used to, and for that, he was thankful.

"That boy had some crazy ideas," Sasuke said softly, bringing his hands up to his forehead, lightly tapping the hitai-ate tied upon it, a sensation long forgotten.

_But for now, time to save the day, _he thought with a smirk, stepping out of the shade to confront the Sound-nin.

* * *

**A/N: Is this a regular time travel story? God, I hope not. That'd be boring, and not fun at all.**

**Anyway, I know the beginning was a bit rushed, but I'd rather not rehash canon. Besides, it's Sasuke-centric, and I don't see him as the type of person who actually cares about half of what happens around him. He's rather goal-oriented, after all, and focuses on the finale rather than the path, as opposed to Naruto, of course, who in every in-character time travel story is the type of person to talk to everyone, solve everyone's problems, and save the day, while getting a huge harem and the respect of all the ninja in the world.**

**Besides, I've must have read the Wave Arc a hundred times, if not a thousand. It's pretty boring stuff, and it's really just Naruto's chance to grow up in canon. I kind of doubt Sasuke gives a damn about it, besides nostalgia (and stealing Zabuza's sword. I mean really: you never know when you need a BFS).**

**Anyway, can you guess what happened at the end? It has to do with why Sasuke received the memories when he did. It's my little plot twist. From here on out, things should start getting more detailed, as he begins to get more involved with current events.**

**Review please! Even if it's just to criticize my plot (or lack thereof), or my convoluted sentences. I write just as I read: fast, so sorry if it seems rushed.**

**Edited: 8/27/12**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

* * *

"Uh…" Naruto stirred awake with a groan. "What happened?"

Sakura was the first to respond, glancing up from her place tending the campfire. "Orochimaru knocked you and Sasuke-kun out," she told him, adding another stick to the campfire. "Don't you remember?"

Naruto shook his head before turning his head, looking for his other teammate in the near-empty clearing. "What happened to Sasuke?"

The Genin in question chose that moment to walk into the clearing, hefting a strange mammal the size of a small child over his shoulder. "I saved the day, of course," Sasuke replied with a smirk. "I even took care of some idiots that tried to ambush us while you were asleep, and got the other scroll. We can head to the tower in the morning."

"Sasuke," Naruto began to speak, but elected instead to just smile at his old friend's demeanor. He had been acting moody and impatient in the days before their encounter with Orochimaru; Naruto assumed that beating back the Serpent had been enough to lift Sasuke's spirit.

"Don't worry," Sasuke said, still smirking. "It was a piece of cake. Even Sakura managed to help. She beat up the girl on the other team."

Naruto looked over at his other teammate in surprise. "Really, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled at him. "I've gotten stronger, Naruto-kun," she replied, giving a dismissive flick with her wrist. "Like Sasuke-kun said, it was a piece of cake. Your help with my training really paid off. Or did you think it was all for nothing?"

"No," Naruto grinned back at her. "I always knew you were strong, Sakura-chan."

* * *

It was when they were about to enter the tower that Naruto brought up something that had been bothering him. "Hey, Sasuke."

The boy in question turned to glance at his teammate. "What is it?"

"Did Orochimaru do anything to you?"

Sakura, who had been watching their exchange, butted in to answer. "That freak bit Sasuke and knocked him out, but after a few days it went away. I think it was a sort of poison transfer that failed, since Sasuke survived it without a problem."

When Naruto looked to Sasuke with worry in his eyes, the boy in question just gave him a dismissive smirk. "Don't worry so much," Sasuke drawled. "It didn't even leave a scratch. There's no poison left; not like the other time I was bitten by a snake."

Naruto seemed to get the message. "Alright then," he told his teammates. "So we're all okay?"

Sasuke walked past him, shaking his head, while Sakura gave him an exasperated smile. "Yes, Naruto, we're fine."

* * *

"Uchiha Sasuke versus Akado Yoroi!" called out the proctor for the preliminaries, the sickly looking Hayate. "Please stay down here for your match. The rest of you, please step up to the second floor balcony."

Kakashi paused besides Sasuke as everyone moved away from the arena floor. "Sasuke, don't use the Sharingan."

Sasuke glanced up at the Jounin. "Excuse me?" he asked slowly.

"If that curse on your neck becomes active," Kakashi continued, "You might lose your life."

Sasuke considered that, wondering how Kakashi knew anything about the seal. After all, none of his teammates had said a word, and it wasn't as if the Serpent went around, bragging about how he was going to take Sasuke…

Then again, a glance around the room revealed a worried looking Anko, standing near Sarutobi and holding her curse mark, as well as a smirking Sound-Jounin, with slanting eyes and long black hair.

_That frickin' smug bastard, _Sasuke swore internally, recognizing his old teacher in the foreign ninja.

"If the seal becomes active," Kakashi kept on talking, "I'll step in and stop the match."

Sasuke finally answered. "Don't worry, Kakashi," he replied dismissively. "I'll fight the match without using chakra techniques, if that's your concern." _Better to keep the charade up, while the Serpent is here, _he thought to himself, _rather than risk him coming after me again to repeat the job, or worse, take me for his experiments. _

Kakashi's eye gave him a hard look, but the Jounin eventually walked up the stairs, leaving Sasuke to stare at his opponent. He was dressed like Kabuto, but the guy had his mouth hidden behind his veil, and ridiculous black lenses hiding his eyes.

"Now," Hayate spoke, "Please begin."

"Are you ready?" Yoroi asked, putting his hands together in a typical seal formation, activating some sort of glowing power.

Sasuke didn't reply: there was no room for banter on a proper battlefield. Instead he jumped, dodging over Yoroi's first move: throwing knives and shuriken, a typical start to any ninja encounter.

Seriously, the man's actions just screamed 'typical jutsu fodder'. He was an amateur ninja in all respects—

_Except for that stupid chakra sucking thing, _Sasuke suddenly remembered, pulling out his bow as he landed. _Against most ninja, that would be pretty damn useful. Most ninja don't have the stamina to fight like me and Naruto. I'm still young though, and I'm not as strong as I was before; I can't let him touch me._

He fired off a few arrows, forcing Yoroi to abandon his headlong-charge. Archery wasn't so effective in a closed arena, but it did give him some breathing room to plan out his next moves.

"Okay," Sasuke said out loud, "Let's do this."

Yoroi merely rushed towards him yet again, this time at chakra-enhanced speed, closing in very quickly.

Sasuke quickly put up his bow and met Yoroi head on, slapping away the man's eerily glowing hands as they tried to grab him. Yoroi quickly changed tactics, slipping in a leg to attempt grounding the younger ninja.

It was a rather new experience for Sasuke, fighting against a grappler. Yoro's strategy proved successful, and he was able to pull the boy forward and slam the younger and weaker ninja to the ground, pinning him on his stomach. The older ninja's big hands began sucking up chakra at an incredible pace.

Sasuke managed to get enough leverage to kick Yoroi off, gasping at the sudden drain. It was one thing to know what would happen, and another thing to have it actually occur.

Some of Sasuke's casual arrogance bled away in the face of his minor defeat. He was faced with his own words: _don't get too confident, damn it! _And he was finally listening to them.

"You little guinea pig," Yoroi cut into his thoughts, holding up a glowing hand, "You still have some left?"

Sasuke sneered in reply, rising to his feet without a word.

"Well, I'll fix that for you," his enemy continued, speeding towards him yet again.

Sasuke pulled out his bow quickly, reaching over his should and into his quiver, but Yoroi reached him right as he began to draw it. "Too slow!" the man taunted, slapping away the bow, and stepping right into Sasuke's reach.

The young Uchiha didn't pull out an arrow: he drew a short but very sharp blade, and stabbed it right into Yoroi's left bicep and pinned it to his ribs, before giving it a sharp twist and pulling out, doing everything fast enough to strike the blow and leap away before the enemy was able to grab him.

The enemy ninja stepped back while clutching at his injured side. "You little bastard," Yoroi swore, glaring at Sasuke behind his eye-lenses.

"Come at me," Sasuke taunted, brandishing the short blade. "Unless you're afraid…"

Akado Yoroi was probably going to say something, but at that point he fell to one knee with a gasp, still clutching his side. His black shirt was visibly damp; apparently, Sasuke had hit deeper than he'd thought.

_Good,_ Sasuke thought darkly.

"Akado Yoroi," the proctor cut in, "Can you continue?"

"I'm not finished yet—"declared the injured ninja as he tried to rise. However, an arrow slammed into his right shoulder, knocking him on his back.

"Call it," Sasuke announced, drawing another arrow. "Or the next one goes into his throat. There's no way he'll be able to dodge it now."

"Winner," Hayate announced, "Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke retrieved what he could of his things before stepping up to the second floor balcony. His eyes sought out Orochimaru, but apparently, the Serpent's appetite had been sated: Sasuke had survived and was going strong; the man probably saw no need to stick around and watch the other matches.

The Sound-jounin was walking out the doors, not even deigning to send a glance to his supposed team, who had in fact been able to make it to the prelims.

Sasuke kept on going up the stairs, satisfied, only to come face to face with a frowning Kakashi. "We're going to seal the Curse Mark now, Sasuke."

"Curse mark?" Sasuke asked calmly, staring up at his Jounin-sensei. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

Kakashi's hand lashed out and pulled aside his collar. "The Curse Mark that Orochimaru gave you right…here…"

Sasuke let the jounin check his neck for a few seconds before slapping his hand away. "I'm perfectly fine, Kakashi," Sasuke snapped, activating his Sharingan as proof. "There is nothing there. I don't know who you talked to, but all Orochimaru did was slap us around. Now leave me alone."

He walked past the frowning man, coming face to face with his team, as well as his fellow Konoha-nin.

"That was amazing, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura told him, smiling happily.

"That was pretty awesome," Naruto added, giving Sasuke his own genuine smile.

"It wasn't that bad," Sasuke told them. "He thought I was weak from the very beginning of the fight, starting off with such a weak ploy. So, I let him think I was only good with my bow and let him get me the first time." He didn't mention that Yoroi had genuinely brought him down in their first bout. "Then, in the second encounter, I made him think he had me, before I sprang my trap. Luckily, I cut deep enough to take him out."

"Sasuke-kun is so clever!" Ino butted in, having listened with the other nearby teams.

"I didn't know you had a sword," Sakura mentioned, ignoring her rival's outburst.

"Ninja's have to be surprising," Naruto declared sagely.

Sasuke just nodded.

* * *

Watching the matches was rather interesting for Sasuke, unlike Naruto, who seemed to be restless. He hadn't seen any of them before, as Kakashi had been sealing away the seal (an exercise in futility), so they really showcased what he had missed before.

He had always been locked in his head back then, too busy thinking about the past rather than the present. He hadn't realized how cunning the unassuming Shino was; his ploy to blow off the Sound-nin's arms was very well-thought out.

Kabuto's last remaining teammate was yet another over-confident fool. The man attacked, bragged about his secret technique for all to here, and didn't even notice he was grabbing a puppet. It was fitting when the Sand-nin snapped his neck.

Finally, when Sakura and Ino were called down, Naruto told Sasuke what had been on his mind.

"Even though this is supposed to be random," he spoke quietly, "All the matches have been the same. It's really weird."

"I wouldn't know about that, but I'd assume they're all fixed," Sasuke replied, thinking about it. "They're trying to make it so that all the matches at the end show off the best of Konoha."

Naruto nodded. "That explains why so few of our classmates were eliminated in the first stage. Akamaru was barking out loud, but no one called out Kiba, even though he's an Inuzuka and can understand his dog."

Sasuke gave Naruto a look of annoyance. "Why can't you be this intelligent more often?"

Naruto looked as if he was about to retort, but Hayate's voice rang around the stone arena. "Begin!"

"Just watch, Forehead Girl," Ino taunted. "I'm going to show Sasuke-kun how good of a ninja I am, and win him over before you, you loser."

"Shouldn't you be more worried about losing this match?" Sakura shot back, pulling out a kunai.

"Please," Ino flicked her hand dismissively. "You won't even be a challenge."

Sakura scowled but decided to stay quiet, electing instead to create a squad of Bunshin, which charged at Ino in unison, Sakura hidden among their ranks.

"Just what did you help her with, anyway?" Sasuke asked Naruto, rather curious. "I know you've been spending a lot of time with her the last few weeks."

"Everything I could." At Sasuke's dark look, Naruto clarified. "I helped her spar, helped her increase her chakra capacity through use, and talked with her about possible techniques. She's really smart, so by working together we were able to come up with a lot of things. She's still a really balanced ninja: she learned a few minor illusions, she studied anatomy, and she practiced using chakra in her attacks. The thing is: I didn't really have anything big to teach her, so she doesn't really have any special skills yet."

Indeed, the fight was extremely mundane. By that point, Ino had dissipated the clones and was fighting Sakura in hand-to-hand. It was nowhere near as interesting as watching a fight between skilled fighters, though Sasuke noted that Sakura was actually hurting Ino every time she landed a punch, and ignoring Ino's blows in turn.

"How exactly did you spar with her?"

"I went all out, of course. Just no techniques."

Naruto wasn't a beast at this age; he was a fairly average ninja, save for his few techniques (all of which were practically A-rank) and his massive chakra reserves. However, he was more than strong enough to destroy a young Sakura in a fight. "How'd she match up?"

"She's got a better stance and technique than me," Naruto replied, "Even though I'm stronger, she manages to give me a beat down every once in a while. She's gotten confident, and has more experience."

_That's what matters, _Sasuke thought. _Ino's more of a spoiled girl than a ninja. Sakura should be able to take her down, even if they are pretty evenly matched. _Naruto may not have been able to teach her much, he decided, but he gave her the push she needed.

The fight was still going on; neither Sakura nor Ino were able to gain a decisive advantage, and they were very evenly matched. At this point, they were trading kunai and shuriken and logs: a picture perfect match of Academy standards. Ino couldn't find an opening to fire off her clan technique, and Sakura had yet to slug Ino hard enough to put her down.

"I've been wondering, Naruto," Sasuke continued, after the match became more tedious, "How you convinced Sakura to train with you. It seems like the type of thing she'd avoid."

"I'm not that bad, teme," Naruto shot back without any heat. "Since I've been more mature lately, she listens to what I have to say."

Sasuke wasn't content with that answer. "But what did you say?" _I want to know, damn it. It'll be useful to know how to get her to listen to me, rather than swoon when I speak to her._

"I told her that Sasuke-teme likes strong girls." Naruto said off-handedly.

Sasuke spluttered at that for a second. "What!? How the hell—"

"Kinda obvious, Sasuke." Naruto (_the bastard_) seemed amused by Sasuke's reaction. "The only girls I haven't seen you look down on are older Kunoichi, or strong ones our age. Whenever Ino or Sakura or any girl our age tries to hit on you, you get a really annoyed look in your eyes."

Sasuke couldn't refute any of Naruto's logic. The blond had seriously insightful opinions sometimes (_If only it happened more often_. So, he ignored him. "Whatever."

Naruto grinned in victory as they both looked down to see the fight, which had neared its climax.

"I'm not the same person I was before, Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled, charging towards Ino, who shot forward to meet her rival.

They threw a punch at the same time, their fists heading for the other's face.

Sakura however, had the instinct to dodge. Ino's fist clipped her ear, while Ino took Sakura's blow head on. They were both knocked on their backs from the force of their attacks.

"That's exactly what happened last time," Naruto commented softly in the loud silence that ensued, before Sakura shakily rose to her feet and was announced the winner. "But that's new."

"I guess you were able to teach her one thing: how to dodge." Sasuke said dryly. _And even that's questionable._

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not the best at taijutsu, I'll admit it."

"Frickin' Jinchuuriki; they don't even bother to learn the basics," Sasuke spat under his breath, while Naruto rushed to congratulate their victorious teammate. "And he calls me a cheater for using the Sharingan."

* * *

The other matches were interesting; in fact, they were downright spectacular after Sakura and Ino's 'epic' ten minute match.

Tenten showed a lot of potential along with solid skills. (_If she's still single by the time we've finished everything, I'm going to ask her out)._ She was prime wife material (in his eyes anyway: strong and NOT annoying). Temari was along the same lines. She was strong, she showed very good skills, and best of all, she was a normal wind user. If they ever partnered up, she could make his flames burn hotter than ever.

Of course, Sasuke had these thoughts running in his the back of his mind, courtesy of his hormones, while a more normal commentary was at the forefront.

_The girl concentrates too much on long-range; she needs something for mid-range. And can she even use all of those weapons? Throwing them is one thing, but actually wielding a katana is completely different._

_As for the Sand Kunoichi, burn her if she swings that fan, and try to get in close enough to stop her from beating me up with it. I still don't know how she is with hand-to-hand combat; I better ask Naruto for some advice._

Shikamaru's method of winning was unique, and not all that useful to watch. He made the battle one of wits, luring the opponent into place in a way that allowed him the easiest victory. It was an incredibly hard thing to do with mental strength alone; normal ninja had to rely on subtle illusions to achieve a similar effect. Yet the boy had a long way to go before he could go toe to toe with the big players. Combat wasn't a game, after all, you couldn't treat it like one and expect to walk out unscathed.

The Sound Kunoichi was too damned smug during her whole match: her loss was fitting in all respects, at least, in Sasuke's mind. _Are all Sound-ninja like that? _He wondered, thinking of his own experiences. She could have won if she hadn't fallen into Shikamaru's trap, after all. The lazy ninja had played her like a fiddle, using her confidence against her.

Naruto's match was next, and of course, he won over Kiba. Naruto may not have been the most solid of fighters, but he was extremely cunning on the battlefield. He sent his shadow clones in first, forcing Kiba on the defensive, and right as the Inuzuka had enough space to go ahead and try out one of his clan techniques, Naruto was upon him, pinning him to the ground and forcing him to resign.

It was a classic case of underestimating one's opponent: Kiba assumed Naruto was still an idiot, and that his barrage of clones was the best he could do. Naruto, meanwhile, went in with everything he had, and viciously took the other boy down as soon as Kiba had his guard down.

_That mutt should really know better than to pause to insult his opponent, _Sasuke thought.

Neji utterly dominated Hinata in the next match. When the match began, she already had seemed as if she would rather die than stand up to him. If it wasn't for Naruto's encouragement, the match would not have gone on as long as it did. As it was, Neji still almost killed her.

It was very interesting to Sasuke, seeing the friction between the two Hyuuga. He decided to get the full story from Naruto later; the blond seemed to know more than most of the audience.

Lee's match was the most amazing thing Sasuke had ever witnessed; a Genin without any techniques beyond punches and kicks beat up a Jinchuuriki! It was outright unbelievable! The implications spoke very good things about Konoha's work ethic; if only they were able to show this in the finals instead!

Sasuke resolved to train more.

Chouji's match was rather straightforward: ninja tries to shut down enemy's special skill, only to find out the special skill was stronger than thought. A simple fight, really.

All in all, the fights were interesting, informative, and entertaining in their own way. It was a breath of fresh air, seeing his classmate's skills in action. He had never paid them any mind before, asides from categorizing them by clan and skills.

Finally, they drew lots to determine the next match: a process that should have been random, by all means, considering they chose their own number from a box.

Naruto ended up fighting Neji again; Sasuke pulled out Gaara; Shikamaru was pitted against Temari; Shino received Kankuro as his opponent; the only change was Dosu against Sakura as the last match.

_So, they are fixed, _Sasuke thought, discerning the most obvious pattern in the match selections:

Jinchuuriki against a skilled ninja.

Konoha clan heirs against the Kazekage's progeny.

Finally, a lesser known Leaf Genin fighting against a ninja of an unknown village.

The matches were made to be entertaining and show off Konoha's skill to potential clients. Only Sakura's fight was a throwaway: she was relatively an unknown ninja, and if she lost to the Sound, it wouldn't matter that much.

A hand landing on Sasuke's shoulder broke him out of his musing.

"Sasuke," Kakashi looked down sternly at his student. "We're going to the hospital to get you checked out. _Now._"

Sasuke grunted his assent, annoyed at his teacher's meddling, but allowed himself to be taken away, leaving his other teammates behind.

* * *

"While there _was_ a spike in chakra activity around the puncture wounds, virtually nothing remains at this point," announced the medic. "It seems that Sasuke-san was able to live through Orochimaru's attack without a scratch… besides the scars from the bite, of course."

_You can't detect anything on the surface, _Sasuke thought to himself, feeling the familiar tingle of the enzyme derived from Juugo running through him. _But if I wanted to, I could easily activate it. _

Kakashi seemed both relieved and annoyed at that. "So, what happened? Do you think Orochimaru lied to us?"

"About applying the Curse Seal?" the medic asked, frowning. "No. There are traces of a seal being applied: however, it seems to have failed, because there is no visible matrix, and no signs of anything around the bite besides inflammation. I've studied Anko-san's seal, you know; I know the feel of its chakra well enough to recognize it. There is a trace of it here, but it's virtually nonexistent, as if it _was _applied, but failed to stay. Sasuke-san should be fine."

Sasuke nodded at that. "I feel fine, Kakashi," he asserted. "So can we go now?"

Kakashi nodded, his visible eye locked on Sasuke's face. "Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

"So," Sasuke asked the next day, glancing around the rocky clearing. "Where are Naruto and Sakura?"

Kakashi's face was impassive as he replied. "I found Naruto and Sakura a tutor who should be able to meet their needs."

Sasuke's face was just as impassive. "Why won't _you_ teach them?"

"Because they aren't fighting a monster," Kakashi stated, "You are. I need to teach you one-on-one to ensure you at least survive the next exam."

"It's not a question if I will survive or not, _Sensei_," Sasuke shot back, beginning to grow irritated. "What about them? Don't you think Naruto might need a bit more help to take on Hyuuga Neji? And what about Sakura? She's gotten better, but the Sound-nin is not only more ruthless, he's probably looking for revenge after I knocked him around in the second exam. She needs all the help she can get if she wants to survive."

Kakashi did not visibly react to any of Sasuke's words, but his next words were as cold as a glacier: "This isn't about them, Sasuke. I have to—"

"Those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash!" Sasuke snapped. "If you aren't going to help them, I will."

It wasn't as if Naruto needed any help: the blond had told him that he was going to seek out Jiraiya of the Sannin for training. It was Sakura that he was worried about. She really did need a good teacher, and Kakashi's actions weren't going to do anyone a favor. If he continued with his lazy ways, the girl would always be a useless annoyance, something that Sasuke wholeheartedly wanted to avoid, for everyone's sake.

Besides, Kakashi didn't really do much with him. He gave him a set of directions, some advice, and sat around supervising him. He could easily use the extra time to give Sakura some training.

Kakashi was silent for a second, before nodding his assent. "Fine. We'll train for today, one-on-one. Tomorrow, I'll go check on the others and see if they need any help."

"That's all I ask for," Sasuke stated.

Kakashi's eye curved into a smile. "I'm surprised to see you care so much for your teammates, Sasuke, but I'm proud of you."

_It surprised me too, _Sasuke thought. _But if I don't watch out for the idiots, who will?_

* * *

**A/N: Well, I've been looking at canon a lot to flesh out the story. **

**Sasuke was able to keep Orochimaru's interest, which is a good thing. It means that the Serpent won't kill him at the first opportunity. **

**I know in some fics that when Naruto begins to help someone, they become a total badass in a few sessions, but I didn't think that would hold here. I know in canon he's pretty good at passing on his techniques, but again, that isn't happening here. **

**He wasn't able to teach Sakura much. He can't really help her with chakra control: everything is easy for her in that respect. He can't teach her Rasengan or Kage Bunshin, and let's face it: that's basically all he knows besides the Henge and Kawarimi. He's not exactly the most skilled of fighters either, so all he was able to do was boost her confidence and give her a bit more experience, which Ino should have as well, considering she was a clan heir. So in here, their fight wasn't a fight over who was the most determined (in which they equal in canon). Here, they had a straight up ninja fight. They threw knives, threw clones, substituted, brawled, tried to trick each other, and all of that, but in the end, in the final punch, Sakura was experienced enough to be able to **_**not **_**get punched in the face, which was enough to give her the victory.**

**Some have asked for more from Sasuke, so I tried to deliver by letting him stay and watch the rest of the fights, but it felt kind of forced. I tried.**

**Uh, as for the Cursed Seal, it's there, just like Naruto's seal is there. It's hidden, but when Sasuke wants to activate it, it will appear. It's not gone: all he's done was exorcise Orochimaru from it, hijacking the seal and taking absolute control of it.**

**Sasuke's attitude has been changing, and it's kind of obvious why, but I'm not going to go into it yet.**

**I've put in a lot more work into my writing since people actually want to read it for some reason (can't see why, to be honest) so there's less mistakes, and better flow. I also edit it before I publish it now, so it should all be fine.**

**Any other questions, just ask. **

**Please review, and tell me what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.**

The next day, the lazy Hatake and his student went to check up on the rest of the team, as per Sasuke's request. After checking at the hot springs, the Jounin led Sasuke to a training field, where Ebisu and Sakura were training by the water.

"How's training going, Ebisu?" Kakashi asked lazily, looking at the Special Jounin from over the top of his book.

"Your student is truly remarkable, Kakashi!" Ebisu declared. "Sakura-san was able to do ever exercise I asked her to demonstrate perfectly. Not only that, she has shown a great aptitude for chakra control. I showed her water-walking, and she mastered it within half an hour!"

"What else were you going to teach her?" Sasuke cut in, glancing at Sakura, who was going through simple taijutsu forms.

Ebisu seemed to glare at Sasuke from behind his black glasses, as if chastising him for his rudeness. "Since there is very little I can help her with, I was going to have her re-master the basics of being a ninja, from taijutsu to ninjutsu. The better she is at the basic things, the better she will be when she moves on to advanced techniques with her Jounin-sensei."

Sasuke irritably looked at Kakashi before motioning to his teammate. "Let's go train, Sakura!" he called, walking away.

Kakashi ignored his departing students, looking around the clearing. "By the way, where is Naruto?"

Ebisu seemed to get even more annoyed at that question. "He left with a white haired man at the hot springs," the man told Kakashi, who perked up at that statement. "I haven't seen him since, and frankly, I don't want to. That boy is very rude."

"Is that so?" Kakashi said under his breath, putting away his book. "Anyway, I'm going to take Sakura off your hands. Sasuke has been rather vocal about her training: he believes she needs much more training if she is going to do any good against the Sound Ninja.

Ebisu nodded. "I understand. She doesn't really need any help from me: she's already mastered all of the basics. What she needs now is someone who can teach her advanced techniques, a mentor of sorts."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" Kakashi asked.

Ebisu frowned at him. "Why can't you teach her?"

"Sasuke will be facing a bloodthirsty Sand-nin who has an absolute defense," Kakashi replied. "I need to teach him how to get around that and survive, and I can't do that while helping the others. It's why I wanted you to look after them."

Ebisu nodded at that. "Well, I know of someone who could use a good student right about now. That is, if you could convince her to teach Sakura."

* * *

_Kakashi is the laziest bastard ever, _Sasuke thought, staring at his Sensei and his companion as they approached the two members of Team Seven.

It was a rather annoying trait. Kakashi _could _have taught Sakura about almost_ anything. _The Jounin was adept in illusions, a skilled hand to hand fighter, and a genius at ninjutsu: after all, the man was said to have over a thousand techniques memorized, and from what Sasuke had seen, he was very skilled in all of the basic elements.

Instead, the man brought in yet another teacher to pawn his students off on while he wasted a month teaching an _Uchiha (with Sharingan!) _ONE technique.

_No wonder I ran off to Orochimaru, _Sasuke thought irritably.

Now that man knew how to teach! He had an incredible work ethic (you had to, to try to learn every technique in the world), many people that Sasuke could spar with, and was not afraid to share Secret Techniques.

Sure he was rather… _inhuman. _But everyone had their quirks.

"Sakura!" Kakashi called, drawing his teammate's attention. "I've brought another teacher to help you out."

Sakura took one glance at the woman and shuddered in horror, taking a large step back. "That's—"

"Mitarashi Anko," Sasuke finished.

Their eyes met briefly. He gazed at her with cold indifference. She looked back with a strange look—it was hard to read, but he could see the undeniable interest in him, probably because of his encounter with the Serpent.

Sasuke had known that she was Orochimaru's disciple, in that way that he knew Naruto was blond, the sky is blue, and people are stupid. _Never knew how much he affected her, though._

The moment passed, and Anko directed her interest (and lack thereof) to Sakura. "Kakashi's hired me to teach you. Let's see what you've got."

Sakura visibly gulped.

* * *

"Why'd you pick her?" Sasuke asked when Kakashi finally pulled him aside for their training. "Does she have some special skills to teach Sakura?"

Kakashi gave him a bored look as he rooted around in his hip-pouch. "Anko is on leave right now, but I heard she was feeling bored. I asked if she could help Sakura, and she said yes. She's a skilled Shinobi, and I'm sure we'll see good things from Sakura after they're through training."

Sasuke looked back at the girls. Anko was throwing weapons at Sakura, who was doing her best to dodge without becoming a pincushion. "You think it will help?"

"Every bit helps," Kakashi asserted, echoing young Sasuke's words to Naruto.

Sasuke decided to put it out of his mind. "Let's train then."

Kakashi's hand came out of his pouch, holding a piece of tan paper. "We'll start by checking your elemental affinity. Channel chakra through this."

Sasuke plucked the paper out of Kakashi's grasp and trickled a bit of energy into it. The paper instantly deformed, wrinkling into a ball that seemed blackened, as if held over a fire.

"Lightning and fire," Kakashi noted, touching the warm paper. "A potent combination."

"Now what?" Sasuke prompted, letting the paper fall away.

Kakashi scratched his chin as if in thought. "Well, you have the chakra requirements down, and I could teach you the technique right now…" he mused aloud.

"Then?" Sasuke prompted, impatience welling up within him.

"But instead, we'll do physical training!" Kakashi announced cheerfully, ignoring Sasuke's glare. "We need to get you as fast as Rock Lee before the exams. After all, we can't put all of our hopes in one technique!"

Sasuke spat out, "Let's get to it then," oblivious to the predatory gleam in Kakashi's eye.

* * *

A wheezing Genin shakily pushed himself up to his knees, staring up at his Sensei's silhouette in the sunset—a malevolent visage that seemed to judge him for every wrong he had every committed.

"Why are you doing this?" Sasuke gasped, almost collapsing in his journey to his feet, knees trembling as he tried to get in a fighting stance.

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked innocently, reaching into his pouch to pull out his Adults-Only novel. "This is all part of your training, you know. I heard that Might Guy trains his students this way every day. Surely it's not that difficult, Uchiha-kun?"

_Oh Kami…he's mad at me, _Sasuke realized.

"After all, a strong ninja such as you is able to handle everything, right?" Kakashi continued, snapping open his book. "You don't really need a Jounin to help you out, right?"

"Is this because I stonewalled you with the cursed seal?" Sasuke asked slowly, as he tried to catch his breath.

"It's a number of things, Sasuke," Kakashi announced. "You regularly ignore me, and when you do speak to me, it feels as if you're talking down to me. When I tried to help you, you pushed me away, and ignored my concerns. Frankly, I wonder if you even want to be on this team, or even in our village."

Sasuke didn't know how to respond to that: or at least, how to respond in a way that wouldn't draw any more attention to him.

"I have a lot on my plate, Kakashi," Sasuke said, looking away.

Kakashi seemed to accept that response as adequate. He sighed and gave his student a knowing glance. "You know, we're all here to help if you need anything. You don't have to go through life alone."

"If I need anything," Sasuke stated, locking gazes with his teacher, "You'll be the first person I'll go to."

Kakashi nodded. "That's all I ask for, Sasuke," he said, before looking down at his book. "Let's continue training."

* * *

About a week passed before Naruto came by to check on his teammates.

"Sakura's been having a rough time, huh?" the blond asked, coming out of the foliage to greet Sasuke.

"Where the hell have you been?" Sasuke asked back, firing an arrow into his distant targets. "You've been gone a week and now you bother showing up?"

"I've been training with Jiraiya-sensei!" Naruto protested. "He's got me working my ass off."

"Didn't you tell me numerous times that all the man does is peep on women?" Sasuke sniped, not bothering to look at his teammate. "What the hell does he teach you anyway?"

"Why have you been acting like an ass lately?" Naruto shot back, moving closer to his angry teammate. "I've heard from Sakura about how you've been talking back to everyone, and ignoring her. I thought you were getting better, that you didn't want to be a bad guy, that you didn't want to be like future-Sasuke."

Sasuke stopped in the middle of drawing back his bow, seemingly considering his teammates words. "Why'd you tell me about the visions anyway?" he asked back, frowning. "I've been wondering about that, you know. When he—I—received the future knowledge, I stayed silent for five years. You knew about it for a week before seeking me out. Why?"

"You acted differently from the Sasuke I knew," Naruto replied. "So I wanted to see why, just in case something happened that I needed to know about. When I saw you dressed like him, I decided to ask—"

"'The Sasuke I knew'," Sasuke interrupted. "What does that mean?"

Naruto froze for a second, before giving his teammate a blinding grin. "I just messed up my words, ya know? I meant—"

"You came back to the past, and played along when I said that it was all visions," Sasuke guessed, finally glancing at his teammate. "Is that right?"

Naruto twitched, before switching tracks. His grin disappeared as he cocked his head at the Uchiha. "Yeah. I'm not like you. I'm from the future. It's not like it changes anything though."

"It explains your maturity," Sasuke mused. "But I wonder how you got back in the first place."

"Something to do with the Nine-tails," Naruto told him, crossing his arms. "I'd rather not talk about it. What about you? Do you know why you got those visions?"

Sasuke considered telling him the truth for a second.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "But I'm making the best of them."

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Naruto spoke again. "I can't talk to you without an epic confrontation, can I?"

"Apparently not," Sasuke said dryly, returning to his training. "Anyway, what were you saying about Sakura?"

"She looks really beat up!" Naruto exclaimed, latching onto the mundane topic. "Crazy Snake Lady is really pushing her hard!"

Sasuke just snorted at that.

* * *

A few days later, the Uchiha had his confrontation with Mitarashi Anko.

"Great job," Kakashi called out from behind his book. "You've gotten pretty fast; maybe fast enough to go on to the next part of training. Take the rest of the day off. We'll resume tomorrow."

Sasuke nodded, stretching his sore muscles. "That sounds great, Kakashi," he replied.

Kakashi's eye curved in his trademark smile before the Jounin vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving his student alone in the woods.

"AH!"

A red and pink blur flew past him, going into the woods that surrounded the training grounds Kakashi had commandeered and modified with Earth techniques.

"That's enough for now, Pinky!" called out Anko, who leaped in through the trees to stand next to Sasuke. "Take a break, we'll resume in a half hour!"

Sasuke gave her a glance as he finished his last stretch, and as luck would have it, she met his gaze. "Hey there, Sasuke-san," she greeted, her eyes curving with a pleasant grin.

"Hey," Sasuke replied in a half-grunt, preparing to walk off.

"Kakashi been working you hard?" she asked.

"I guess," he replied, beginning his voyage away from the area.

"Well," she continued, "How about a spar? All you've been doing is running around; I'm sure you have enough energy for a friendly fight."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, glancing over his shoulder to her friendly face.

_What could you be planning? Is this why you agreed to train Sakura? To get closer to me?_

"If I win, you buy me dango!" Anko said, still smiling.

"Why not?" he mused out loud, turning around to face her. "Let's go."

He had almost no warning at all before she was upon him. However, the half second she took to cross the space between them was just enough to activate his Sharingan and duck under her outstretched knee.

"So close!" she crowed, landing behind him and launching a spinning kick that almost twisted his arm out of his socket as it glanced off his elbow.

Sasuke leapt as hard as he could away from the woman, drawing his bow to snap off a few shots. "Take this!" he called back, infusing the shots with a spark of lightning chakra.

"Not good enough!" she shouted, swiping the arrows aside as she followed, appearing above him in a flash of brown and tan.

Sasuke didn't have enough time to dodge this time. He blocked instinctively, shattering the bow before grabbing the crazy bitch and attempting to throw her into the ground.

Her small hand curled around his wrist instead, and she let herself be thrown, only to land on her feet and pull Sasuke into a similar attack, smashing him into the ground with ease.

"You've got to do better than that, Sasuke-kun~" she crooned, dragging him up just to toss him into a tree.

Sasuke was able to adjust himself in the air and land on the tree, but he found himself regretting ever accepting her offer to spar as her fist met smashed into his jaw, smashing him into another tree, where he slid to the ground.

"C'mon then, Sasuke-chan~" she taunted, walking towards him with a manic grin on her face. "Show me what you can do~"

Sasuke glared at her, barely resisting the urge to call upon Juugo's power as he tried to lurch to—

_That's why!_ He suddenly realized her motivation. She wanted to see if he would give into the Curse Mark that they believed he had.

_Well, if it was still there I probably would have used it, _he thought to himself, getting to his feet and facing her. _As it is, I'm not going to let a little curse control me._

"Well?" Anko asked, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm waiting. In fact, I'll let you hit me once," she tapped her cheek, "right here."

"You've already won," Sasuke responded, tentatively feeling his ribs. "I'm leaving."

She obviously wasn't expecting that. "Eh?" she asked with a surprised blink.

"I'm just a Genin," he replied, giving her a dry look. "And you've already shown me that I've got a ways to go before taking on a Jounin."

In a way, it was a good lesson. He had thought that he was skilled; now, he knew where he lay, and he had a long road ahead of him.

It didn't mean he had to like it, but it was there.

"Oi!" Anko called. "Aren't we gonna finish? C'mon, one free shot!"

"Screw you!" Sasuke shouted back, walking away. "I'm going to the hospital! I think you broke something, you crazy bitch, and I'm not talking about my bow!"

After a few seconds of silence, she appeared at his side, grabbing his shoulder. "All right then, let me check."

Anko poked and prodded him for a few seconds with glowing fingers before giving her diagnosis. "You'll be fine, you big baby."

Sasuke grunted, slapping away her hands. "Fine, now let me rest."

"No," she replied, before grabbing his arm and dragging him off. "You're going to buy me dango, remember?"

"What about Sakura?"

Anko waved her hand dismissively. "She'll be fine."

_I see you've inherited none of Orochimaru's work ethic, _Sasuke thought, glaring at her back.

* * *

"So," began Anko, "What happened in the forest of death, anyway?"

"Why do you want to know?" Sasuke asked.

Dusk had fallen over Konoha. The two ninja sat in the shade of a dango stand, finished with their dinner. Anko had eaten quite a bit, but it wasn't as bad as treating Naruto to ramen; she at least had some manners, and waited until the end of the meal to begin grilling him.

"I heard you met my former master, Orochimaru."

"Is that what they say?"

Anko glared at him. "I fought him in the forest, and he told me to my face that he had attacked and marked you with the Cursed Seal, so stop acting so damned secretive. Tell me what happened."

"I…" Sasuke paused, searching for the right words to say, "I fought him. He threw us around as if we were toys, but I fought well enough that he said he'd spare us. He bit me, and whatever he did knocked me out. Sakura told me I was sick for a few days, but when I woke up, everything was alright again. I don't have any cursed seal that I know of."

Anko grunted, looking down at her empty plate. "When I checked you after our spar, I couldn't feel any of its chakra, so I guess you're okay. Still, you better watch out. He's a crazy, devious man, and he's interested in you."

"I'll be fine," Sasuke asserted.

Anko gave him a glance that spoke volumes about what she thought of that. "Well, if you ever need anything, I'll be glad to help."

Sasuke nodded.

* * *

"Well, you've got the speed down, and the chakra capacity for it," Kakashi announced at the beginning of their third week, "So, it's time to put it to use and learn the technique."

"Can I use my Sharingan for it?" Sasuke asked, "To make the process faster?"

Kakashi shrugged. "You can use it to memorize the seals, but it's better if you went through each step and practice it several times."

Sasuke's eyes flickered, black giving way to red. "Let's get to it then."

"Hold on, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "We're going to talk about the technique first. It's not just a fist full of lightning chakra. You should know what you're getting into before we start."

Sasuke stopped himself from frowning. "Okay."

"Well," Kakashi began, "It's a fist full of _focused_ lightning chakra. When you hit something with it, it doesn't just shock it: it destroys it, just as a lightning bolt from the sky can smash into a tree. It's not as focused as a knife or a wind technique, but it is very effective in putting holes in someone and keeping them down. Got it?"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed. "It's strong, and I should be careful with it."

"Now, the reason I had you work on your speed and strength up to now is to be able to control the technique," the Jounin continued. "If you hit someone too slowly, you could get hurt by the discharge. You need to hit quickly, and make it powerful enough that all that power goes forward. The technique also speeds you up even more than normal, and without the Sharingan to speed up your reflexes and vision, it can get out of hand, making it hard to see if someone attacks from the side while you're charging."

"Do you have that problem often?" Sasuke asked. _Whenever I used it later on, it was easy to control._

"Not as much anymore," Kakashi told him. "I can usually change direction if I have to do it in the middle of a charge, but when I was young and didn't have the Sharingan, it was really hard to control, and nearly impossible to change direction. You'll get used to it if you use it enough, eventually. Anything else?"

"Not really," Sasuke replied. "It's straightforward enough, from when I saw you use it."

"It is, but it's still powerful, and I don't think many people could learn to use it effectively, if it all," Kakashi said. "You need a solid amount of chakra, and a decent lightning affinity. I created it, and I haven't shown many people how to use it. I believe some Cloud-nin have their own versions, but they aren't as explosive as mine. Ready to start?"

"Yeah."

* * *

"You caught on faster than I'd imagined," Kakashi told him a few hours later.

"What can I say?" Sasuke responded, with no little amount of pride as he pulled his arm away from the boulder the Jounin had created. "I'm a natural with lightning."

Kakashi's eye glinted with something akin to amusement. "Well, at least it means we can work on other things for the rest of the month."

"Like what?" Sasuke asked.

Before Kakashi could respond, Anko walked into the clearing with a weary Sakura, drawing the two male's attention.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun!" the Special Jounin called out in her boisterous manner. "I've got something for you."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked semi-politely, mindful of Kakashi's curious gaze.

"Well, since I broke your bow in our spar," Anko explained, "I got you a new one."

Honestly, Sasuke hadn't given it much thought. There were a couple more back at the Uchiha Compound, and archery was more of young Sasuke's thing. He had just picked it up as another tactic to be used, and for the occasional stress relief. "Really now?"

"Yep!" Anko reached into her trench coat and pulled out a small scroll. A few quick gestures later, she held some strange monstrosity in her grasp. "Here you go!"

Sasuke took it from her outstretched hands. "What the hell is this?"

Sakura spoke up. "I've seen that type in a book: it's a recurve bow."

Sasuke stared down at the thing. The bows that the Uchiha had were simple things: long curved pieces of wood with a taut string. This weapon Anko had gotten him had more curves and was short; much easier to carry around, especially at his age.

"I've seen Samurai with that type of bow," Kakashi commented. "It fires arrows faster than a normal bow, and easier to use while running."

"Give it a try," Anko said, holding out a full quiver that she pulled out of the scroll.

Sasuke slowly put on the string. "It's hard to move," he noted, before readying an arrow. "Much harder."

He fired it at one of the targets he had littering the training field, and watched as the shaft buried itself within the wood.

_This is good,_ he thought, staring at the new bow. _This is actually practical in a fight! I can work with this, no problem._

A normal ninja treated his old shots as a mere nuisance, on par with a fast shuriken or kunai. But the arrows fired from this were fast, and strong.

"Well," Kakashi spoke, interrupting his musings, "Shall we continue training?"

* * *

"You have a fun month?" Naruto asked his teammates on the evening before their exam.

"It was horrible," Sakura moaned, burying her head in her hands. "Anko-sensei is a slave driver! She basically beat me up the entire month!"

"But you did learn something, right?" Naruto asked.

Her reply was muffled. "No! I hate her!"

"I saw some of it," Sasuke said, "She did teach Sakura some earth techniques, nothing too big, and how to handle things like senbon later. They mostly sparred and practiced things."

"I could have taught her more!" Naruto said.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, you couldn't. You had a few weeks to try, and look how that turned out."

"Here's your first bowls, on the house!" the ramen chef announced, cutting their argument before it could start.

"Thanks Teuchi-jisan!"

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

A few minutes of quiet eating (and Naruto slurping) passed before Sakura broke the silence. "What about you, Naruto? What did you do?"

"It was great!" Naruto replied between slurps. "I met Jiraiya of the Sannin, whose a huge pervert, and he showed me how to summon toads, and even a technique the Yondaime made!"

"That sounds nice," Sakura replied, trying to ignore his horrible table manners.

"I also saw Lee at the hospital," Naruto added, "I met Gaara there."

Sasuke glanced up from his tomato ramen. "What happened?"

"We talked."

"Hm."

A few more moments of silence passed.

Naruto spoke. "Don't hurt him too much."

"Oh?"

"I'll talk some sense into him."

"Be careful," said Sakura, drawing the boys' attention. "You saw what he did to Lee. I don't want you guys to get hurt."

"Don't worry," they both said at the same time.

* * *

_Somewhere in Konoha_

"So, what should we do about Sasuke?" Kabuto asked. "From what I heard around the hospital, they haven't done anything about his Cursed Seal. They aren't even aware of its existence."

"I'll take Sasuke-kun when the time is right," Orochimaru said, smirking at his loyal man. "He'll be my new vessel, and with the Sharingan, nothing will stand in my way. If he's actually hiding his Seal, well, that just shows how sneaky he is… how greedy he is. He'll come to me when the lure of power becomes too much."

"All your plans have fallen into place," Kabuto noted.

"Yes, nothing can stop me now…unless you decide to turn on me."

They both exchanged smirks and sharp-eyed glances.

"I would never help Konoha," Kabuto finally declared. "Not after all they've done."

"Danzo was always foolish," Orochimaru agreed. "We'll meet after the battle, standing over the Sandaime's corpse."

Kabuto nodded. "Until then."

They parted, sinking into the night shadows.

* * *

**A/N: I've finished this right in the middle of my Govt class. I've started college, and all my free time is tied up in homework. I'm majoring in Comp. Engineering, you see, so it's not exactly easy. However, if I've got time, I'll probably work on this.**

**If you have any questions, ask them. If you found some errors with my work, tell me. I don't have a beta, and I do all editing myself, which should explain some problems. If you want to beta, ask.**

**Please review: this is my first multi-chapter story, and I'd like to get some opinions.**


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